Messi wins Ballon d'Or

This news item talks about FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi who yesterday won one of the most important personal trophies in football. Messi won by record with 473 votes. Real Madrid's player Cristiano Ronaldo finished in second place and Xavi Hernández third. This is only a little prove of the excellent season that Messi has done this year and his team winning all the trophies where they have participated. The next trophy that he could win is the Fifa world Player.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11827_5736123,00.html

FC Barcelona 1 - Real Madrid 0

As everybody knows one Barça-Madrid is not one match and that's all. I mean, one Barça - Madrid is one of the bests football matches that you can see at this moment. There are six candidates to the best football player of the world in this match.

This year the Camp Nou was completely full because everybody wanted to watch this match. Well, the first time was very equal. Madrid started very strong and this surprised FC Barcelona but at the end of the first time the match was very equal.

When the second time started FC Barcelona started to make his style of game and the match became very exiting. Madrid continued with his poor game and took advantage of the Barcelona's mistakes. But all changed when Zlatan came in the match. The untamable, the tireless the killer, Ibrahimovich scored the only goal of the match after one very good center of Alves.

The match changed since this. Barcelona felt very comfortable and started a new stage of match. The last twenty minutes Puyol and Piqué did an excellent work defending each opportunity of Madrid and clearing every ball. Barcelona played the last minutes with only ten players because Busquets was spelled. Messi continued alone in front of the danger and he got some goal opportunities.

Finally, Barcelona got the win. The millions of money that Florentino has spent this summer have not served to avoid the inevitable. The best team must win. The team that last year got the "triplet", the team which plays the best game of the world, the team that has the best football player of the moment.

My other hobby, the airplanes

I would like to make the most of that I'm finishing my research project about aircraft engines to talk about another of my hobbies which is the aviation. Since I was young my father showed me lots of books and pictures about airplanes and he taught me to fly. At this moment I don't have the private license but I want to have it this summer.

Well, the feeling of fliyng is something that everybody has felt any time but I can't loath it. I like so much fliyng and all kind of airplanes. Sometimes I make some scale models of airplanes that I like and I usually download lots of photos of airplanes. Of course there are planes that I like more than others but there are two which I like so much.

On the one hand, there's the Supermarine Spitfire which is one English airplane which was very used during the World War II by the RAF ( Royal Air Force). This is one combat radial airplane which was one of the fastest planes of the period. Nowadays this is only a piece of collection exposed in some museums but there are some rich people who have one and he even has the opportunity to enjoy the big audacity of this nice aircraft.

On the other hand, there's the Grumman F-14 Tomcat which is for me the best plane which has ever been. This is an American combat turbofan aircraft which was used during the cold war, the Iraq conflict and some other wars. His performance was the best of the moment and it was the supremacy of the NAVY. Actually it is out of service but there are also some people who have one of them.

Oral Presentation: Apple vs. Microsoft

Well we used a PowerPoint and a lot of images and videos, so they were really focused on the topic and they looked so good. I think that maybe the presentation was so short but I think that this is because of the nervous.

I think that I was looking at the audience all the time so I read only a little bit my notes. As I do always I did a lot of gestures to hold the attention.

We introduced the topic to the audience, but I think that they maybe knew a lot of thing about it. However we asked them for the topic. We organized the presentation in a structured way and we used a lot of markers to situate the audience. In the conclusion I only did a summary of the presentation and I told that we think that Apple is so much better because this is what we guess.

Obviously we gave to the audience new information about the topic because if we didn't the presentation had been so bad. The information was so detailed but we didn't ask to experts. The opinion that I gave to them was justified and I showed them some things to justify our choice. I think that the message was so clear and if there was someone who didn't understand he should asked us.

The grammar of the presentation was good but not so much difficult to make the presentation easier to understand because there are a lot of people in our class that haven't a good level of English. We used some connectors to link the words and the sentences. Obviously we used fillers to make time while we were remembering about what to say.

My pronunciation was comprehensible and my CATALONIAN accent was very nice. Maybe it isn't so good but I think that everybody understands it. I spoke in a fluent way to make the presentation more fluent and softer.

Finally, I think that my mark is about nine because following the evaluation is the mark that I think just.

Are paperbooks dead?

The extinction of paperbooks has been worring some people in the last years, but now with the invention of the digital books it has become more important . I don't agree totally with the idea that digital books are replacing paperbooks.

First of all, I think that digital books have just started to exist, and they are not so easy and comfortable to read. They are so expensive too so this is a big disadvantatge.

Secondly, to read a paperbook is easier and more confortable than reading it on a screen. It's also true that some people think that rading a paper book makes you feel some emotions that you can't feel reading on a screen.

In conclusion I would like to say that it's obvious that digital books are going to have a important place in society, but in my opinion paperbooks will not become extint because og theit comfort and importance.

One of the most beautiful things in life

Well, today I would like to talk about one of the things that is more important for me. I'm not referring to anybody; I'm just talking about my horse. Its name is Quelly but I must say that I don't like its name but I didn't choose it. Well it's a very noble horse and she is mine for two or three years. She is a very young horse I mean she's five years old what is a young age for a horse. I spend a lot of time with her riding and taking care of her. Her breed is mainly English and her height is about 1'62 meters.

I understand that some people couldn't understand the relation between one horse and its master, but the truth is that is not the same as a dog or a cat. When you have been spending time and enjoying it with a horse the relation that establishes between you and the animal is so strong. At this moment it's maybe the most important thing of my life and I could do anything for it. It's difficult to understand, but exists a relation of confidence and significance between us and it's so strong.

Riding horse is one of my hobbies and this animal has become very important for me and I hope that it will continue for a lot of time. Well to finish I hope that you have understood that it is not only an animal or an entertainment for me so if you have never the opportunity to test it I recommend it to you!

Twilight review

A girl called Isabella leaves from Arizona some time and she goes to live with his father in Forks. There she meets some friends and everyone is very polite to her. But there's a family, the Cullen who doesn't meet with the rest of people. Bella is interested in one of them, Eduard who is very beautiful and mysterious. Eduard saves Bella of a car accident and then she starts to discover that the Cullen isnt' a normal family. Bella discovers that they are vampires but she can't separate from Eduard. They start to be good friends. But meanwhile in Forks some people is being killed and something dangerous is approaching.

Discussion of one Human Right

"Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."

Human rights are some kind of moral codes which have been published to get that everyone be respected by the others and to avoid that anybody is treated bad. They were created in 1948. They were crated after the Second World War because during the war died a lot of people and they were treated as they weren't people. The United Nations wanted to finish with this kind of violence to people. There are a total of thirty human rights. I wasn't familiar with the one which says that everybody has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. I think that in Catalonia this right is mainly respected in one way because there are a police to preserve the security of people, and everyone is free to do what he wants if it doesn't disturb the others. In other way, when a woman is pregnancy, it's legal that she aborts the baby so we're killing lives. But it seems that in general this right is respected as it can. Lots of studies show that human rights are not important for some presidents and it makes that they don't respect them. In this map you can see that in the green parts, the freedom is respected, in the orange parts freedom is partly respected and in red parts doesn't exist freedom.




In the past it wasn't respect because some decades ago, the Human Rights didn't exist and wars and conflicts treated people very bad. After the Second World War the main nations of the world considered necessary to declarate official the Human Rights. I think that in some countries of the third world this right isn't respected and lots of people is dying every day because their governments don't give them food and water so it reflects that there are some places where this right isn't respected.

Second New

Osbourne's surgery for drug fix

This new is about Kelly Osbourne who has fixed her lips with plastic surgery. I think that it's important because Kelly Osbourne is the daughter of a famous singer, Ozzy Osbourne, and it's about plastic surgery. It doesn't affect me as well and I think that neither the people around m, because it could only affect Kelly's family because they decide what to do with their life, but I thought that the new was interesting.

http://www.abc2news.com/entertainment/story/Osbournes-surgery-for-drug-fix/N27G1DOxLUidm6LOrRRm2Q.cspx

Joke

First new

Spain crowned kings of Euro Basket

This new is about the victory of the Spanish team of basketball against Serbia, which served to get the Euro basket.
It’s important because the basketball Spanish team hasn’t won this title before and they were very superior to the rest of teams.
I’m very satisfied with this victory because I like some players of the team and I think they are the best team at the moment.
I think that it cans affect people in different ways. I mean, if they are Spanish people and they like sport they will be very satisfied, but if they don’t like sport, they wouldn’t give importance to this event.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/basketball/8266003.stm

Final Evaluation of 1st Batxillerat

Observing your portfolio, can you see an improvement of your level of English since September 2008? Where, for example?
I think that my level of English hasn't improved so much but maybe if I look at the texts, the organization of the information has improved and I have learnt some new words.

Which activity best shows your level of English?
I don't know, but maybe the blog because is the activity which has occuped more time.

Which activities were really USEFUL for you to improve English? Why?
Maybe the exams because they are the best way of showing that you have understood the contents of the unit.

Which activities did you not find useful to learn English? Why not?
I think that the blog because is a very repetitive task which doesn't make you learn new words or things and it takes you a lot of time.

Which activities did you enjoy doing and would like to do next year?
I think that I enjoy listen to songs and go to the language room because the hours which you are there are more entertaining than normal classes.

Opinion essay

“We have almost learnt to respect our world. Do you agree?”

Where I live, people now are starting to recycle rubbish, to make cars which don’t contaminate so much and they have introduced some new measures which are respectful for the environment.

In my opinion, is true that during the last few years we have improved our behavior to the environment and now we are conscious of that we’ve been destroying our planet since a lot of years. But as I said, now we are behaving more respectful with our planet.

Firstly, nowadays we are banning some lethal products for the atmosphere and we are also reducing the environmental pollution. This is, we are making cars which expulse less CO2 and which are more ecological, and we’re also investigating for new removable and cleaner energies than oil and other ones.

Secondly, we have created a lot of organizations which are planting a lot of trees to solve the problem of deforestation. This is a good idea because some years ago we didn’t do that and we cut a lot of trees which are very important because plants reduce in a very important measure the quantity of CO2 present in our atmosphere.

To finish, I would like to say that during the history of humanity, we have been very irresponsible with our environment and with our planet, but the last years we’ve improved a lot, and now we are acting in a more responsible way. It’s true but, that if we don’t do more things and start to find better solutions for this problem, in hundreds of years this world will finish destroyed.

Summary: The Oxford Murders

Martin is an American student who arrives at the University of Oxford. He stays at one woman’s house. He goes to the University and he knows one of the most important logic teachers, Shelton. His intention is that Mr. Shelton manages his thesis and helps him. They meet in a philosophy class where they have a little discussion about the number pi. One day when Martin arrives at home he finds the old woman dead. Then Shelton arrives and he says that he was a family's friend. They start to investigate and they realize that it could be the first of a success of crimes because before, the teacher had received a letter with a circle and the address of the old woman. The daughter of the dead woman kisses Martin and then she leaves. Martin doesn't understand it very well. In the gym, Martin meets a young woman and they start something as a relation.

Podcast Barça vs Bayern

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Transcription

A year later, Carlos Finlay, a Cuban doctor treating patients with yellow fever in Havana, provided strong evidence that mosquitoes were transmitting disease to and from humans. The first effective treatment for malaria came from the bark of cinchona tree, which contains quinine. This tree grows on the slopes of the Andes, mainly in Peru. A tincture made of this natural product was used by the inhabitants of Peru to control malaria, and the Jesuits introduced this practice to Europe during the 1640s, where it was rapidly accepted.

When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken, which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About one week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito's saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Infected Anopheles mosquitoes carry Plasmodium sporozoites in their salivary glands. When it bites a person the sporozoites goes through the blood and arrives to the liver where it enters into hepatic cells and starts to reproduce. Then the new cells travel to the blood and blow up the red blood cells.
Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites with mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito control measures such as spraying insecticides inside houses.

Work has been done on malaria vaccines with limited success and more exotic controls, such as genetic manipulation of mosquitoes to make them resistant to the parasite have also been considered.
Education in recognizing the symptoms of malaria has reduced the number of cases in some areas of the developing world by as much as 20%.Education can also inform people to cover over areas of still water which are ideal breeding grounds for the parasite and mosquito.

Observation of your oral presentation

Did you use any resources?Yes, we used a PowerPoint and we included videos and photos.
Were the resources relevant and attractive?I think that they looked fine which was our intention.
Did you look at your audience most of the time?I think that yes mainly because this time I wasn’t very nervous.Did you read from your notes?I think that no so much because I knew the text very well.
Did you do any gestures/movement to hold the attention of your audience?I moved a lot my hands, but I did it unconsciously.Did you organize you ideas in order of importance?I organized them as order of the presentation.
Did you use discourse markers to make you ideas more clear? I don’t think so.
Did you introduce interesting, new information to your audience?Of course. I showed them some of the causes and consequences of malaria and some more interesting things.
Did you look up information in the Internet?Yes I searched in the interned for a lot of information.Was your information more superficial or more detailed?I think it was detailed because we needed some technical words and information about the virus.
Did you check your grammar?Yes I used the World corrector and some dictionaries.
Did you use rich vocabulary looking up to the dictionary?Yes, I did.Did you use sentence linkers?Yes, because I needed them to talk clearly.
Did you use fillers?I think that maybe not so much.
Did you know how to pronounce all your words?Yes, I checked it but I think that I didn’t pronounce all of them well because I was nervous.
Did you change your tone of voice or use a monotone tone all the time?I changed a little bit the tone to make the presentation less boring, but I wasn’t changing the tone at all the time because it wasn’t monotone.
Did you speed in a fluid continuum or with breaks and interruptions?I think that I spoke in a fluid continuum but the teacher didn’t think that.
What mark did you get?I know that my mark is a 7,7 but I’m sure that I should have a better mark because I think that I did a good presentation and I knew the text very well. This is only my opinion of course, but I am not satisfied with the mark because some people have better mark than me and I don’t think that their presentation were better than mine. But obviously I know that I am not a good student at teacher’s eyes.

Rafael Nadal completes fifth straight win at Monte Carlo Masters

The last Sunday, Rafael Nadal get his fifth successive title at the Monte Carlo Masters as he beat Novak Djokovic in the final. The Spanish champion played very well against Djokovic who won the second set, but Nadal was finally unbeatable. With this victory Rafa equalled Roger Federer's mark with 14 wins in the Masters Series.

Sebastian Vettel secures maiden victory for Red Bull at Chinese Grand Prix

The last weekend Sebastian Vettel won his second race in his career in Formula 1. Mark Webber got the second place in one excellent race for Red Bull. The rain helped red bull pilots because the race started with safety car and it continued in the race for some laps. The big dominance of the Red Bulls was very surprising after the driveshaft problems in both cars had wrecked their final practice session of Friday. Red bulls also did a good qualification with the pole and the third place. Vettel said that he was very satisfied with the car and with his race. It wasn't a good race for the best teams so Ferrari and Renault's pilots didn't scored any points and McLaren pilot Lewis Hamilton only get the sixth place.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6125868.ece

Anfield spectacular leaves Real routed in record style

Yesterday night, for five year consecutive, the Liverpool FC got the pass to the quarters of final of the Champions league beating the Real Madrid in Anfield.

The English team played a spectacular first time and in the first thirty minutes they scored two goals. The final result was of 4-0. Benitez showed very satisfied with the victory but he said that they could score more goals. The Real Madrid was swept for the Liverpool and Casillas saved them of a heavy defeat. Stephen Gerrard insisted they did a nice job on the first time and that it was a fantastic team performance.

Chelsea also got the pass thanks to Drogba’s goal which was the 2-2.
Yesterday’s was a difficult night for Juande Ramos. The Real Madrid have not passed to quarters of final of the Champions league since 2004, and yesterdays defeat can cause doubts about the Spanish team’s directive. Ramos didn’t say anything about referee decisions which were not very good.

Benitez added that he is very satisfied with his team and that he is in the best side because his team approach European matches with confidence and on the right way. One prove of it is that Liverpool’s image is very different in Premier’s league and in the Champions.

Oral Presentation

Observation of your oral presentation

Did you use any resources?
Yes, we used a PowerPoint and we included videos, photos and music.
Were the resources relevant and attractive?
I think that they looked fine.Did you look at your audience most of the time?
I think that yes, but there were some moments which I were looking at the text.
Did you read from your notes?
A little bit but not too much because when I forgot what I must say I improvised. Did you do any gestures/movement to hold the attention of your audience?
I moved a lot my hands, but I did it unconsciously.
Did you organize you ideas in order of importance?
I organized them as order of the presentation.Did you use discourse markers to make you ideas more clear? I don’t think so.Did you introduce interesting, new information to your audience?
Of course, I told them which places can they visit in Jamaica and who is Usain Bolt.Did you look up information in the Internet?
Yes I searched in the interned for a lot of information.
Was your information more superficial or more detailed?
I think it was superficial because we only needed to give a generally information about Jamaica.Did you check your grammar?
Yes I used the World corrector and some dictionaries. Did you use rich vocabulary looking up to the dictionary?
Yes, I did.
Did you use sentence linkers?
Yes, because I needed them.Did you use fillers?
I am not very sure but I think that yes.Did you know how to pronounce all your words?
Yes, I checked it but I think that I didn’t pronounce all of them well because I was nervous.Did you change your tone of voice or use a monotone tone all the time?
I changed a little bit the tone to make the presentation less boring.Did you speed in a fluid continuum or with breaks and interruptions?
I think that I spoke with some breaks but not too much.What mark did you get?
I don’t know my mark but about the teacher checks, I am very happy with my Catalan accent!

Discussion essay: bieng a celebrity

It is a well-known fact that being a celebrity is an interesting experience and I’m sure that maybe everybody would like to try it. Famous people are not conscious of it, but they are very lucky because as I will say later, they have a lot of privileges.

On the one hand, famous people appear on TV so they are known in all the world and they can meet who they want. I think that they haven’t got a lot of work so they have a lot of free time which they can pass practicing their favorite hobbies. It’s also true that if they need anything, one famous person is going to be first that another who isn’t famous. Being a celebrity means that you have a lot of privileges and you earn a lot of money.

On the other hand, is not always easy to have privacy when you are a famous person. As you know they always appear on TV and every thing they do, quickly is known for everybody. Anyway they can’t do always what they want, because they must go to famous events and they must be careful with what they do because all things they do are going to be known. Apart from that, I think that they aren’t very happy with reporters and presenters because they are always pursuing them to have an interview or something.

Personally, I believe that being a celebrity could be a interesting thing but only for some days because I think that you must like this kind of live, appearing always on TV and being careful with all you do, so I prefer to have a normal and calmly live as mine.

Oral presentation about Jamaica

Sport:

Jamaicans, in general, have a large interest in sports like Cricket, football, athletics and horse-racing are some popular sports. The national football team qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Jamaican athletics have been well represented at the Olympics, World Championships and other major athletics events over the years with leading athletes obtaining medals. Usain Bolt, world record holder in the 100m for men and 200m for men is among a rich heritage of Jamaican sprinters to compete on the world stage. There is a notable amount of golf in Jamaica, focused on tourism.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Usain Bolt of Jamaica won three gold medals and broke the World Records for the 100m and 200m sprint races respectively. The Jamaican men's 4 x 100m relay team consisting of Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter passed the finishing line in a World Record time.

Chess, Pocket Pool, and Basketball are widely played in Jamaica.

Things to visit:

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States. New Kingston is a business area which embodies the best of modern tropical town planning, graciously combining high rise buildings and well-groomed gardens with the soaring Blue Mountains as a backdrop.

Montego Bay is the second largest city in Jamaica and is the location of Jamaica's largest airport, the Sir Donald Sangster International Airport. Montego Bay is known for its duty free shopping and cruise line terminal at its Free Port on a beautiful, man-made peninsula jutting into the bay. Its sheltered Doctor's Cave Beach with clear turquoise waters is one of the most famous beaches on the island. The bay is surrounded by picturesque low mountains.

Ocho Ríos (also known by the nickname Ochie), is a town on the northern coast of Jamaica, located in the parish of Saint Ann. It is a popular tourist destination, well known for scuba diving and other water sports. A natural mineral spring fills a pool in Ocho Rios at the Couples Resorts Sans Souci. In the natural mineral spring resides a turtle who is more than one hundred years old.

Port Antonio is the capital of the parish of Portland on the northeastern coast of Jamaica. It is the island's third largest port, famous as a shipping point for bananas and coconuts, as well as one of its most important tourist attractions, tourism being a major contributor to the town’s economy.

Runaway Bay is a town in Saint Ann Parish on the northern coast of Jamaica. Runaway Bay is a notable tourist destination. It is also the location of the Hedonism III nudist resort.

Frankenstein: the films vs. the book

I’ve read Frankenstein by Mary Shalley and then I’ve seen the film based in the book. There are some differences and now I’m going to tell some of them to you.

- In the film Justin’s mother appears and in the book she doesn’t.

- In the book Victor’s mother dies of an illness, in the film she dies guing birth to William.

- In the film Victor receives a diary form her mother but not in the book.

- In the book appears Ernest, the youngest brother of the family but in the film he doesn’t.


- In the film Victor meets Henry from University but in the book they met during childhood.

- In the book, Victor’s laboratory is in one island in the lake, and in the film it’s near the University.

- In the film the experiment is not totally secret because Victor’s teacher and Henry know about it, but in the book nobody knows anything.

- In the film there is an epidemic.

-In the film, Felix’s grandchild is a boy and in the book is a girl.

- In the film one man asks Felix for money and then he hits him. After the monster saves Felix and they go into the house. This doesn’t happen in the book. In the book the monster saves a girl from the river and this doesn’t happen in the film.

- The photo on the chain, in the book is of Victor’s mother and in the film is a Victor’s photo.

- In the film Justine has to pass a trial and in the book it doesn’t happen.

- The monster kills Victor’s father before the honeymoon in the film but, in the book, Victor’s father dies of sadness when Victor tells that Elisabeth is dead to him.

- In the film the monster plucks out the Elisabeth’s heart but in the book the monster drowns her.

- The body that Victor uses to make the second monster in the film is from Elizabeth and in the book the body is unknown.

- In the film the monster dies with Victor’s body and in the book he doesn’t die.

Description of a place

Today I’m going to describe a very beautiful part of United States where I stayed during my last vacations. I’m talking about Hawaii. Hawaii is one archipelago and it has some different islands.

My description is about only one of them, Oahu. Oahu is a very beautiful island and is the biggest of the archipelago. It has very beautiful beaches with very clean and blue water. But not only are the beaches beautiful, all the island is covered for wonderful green mountains that seems like a saw. The climate always helps to do more beautiful the island. This is very hot and sometimes you can see that it’s raining while you are very hot. The buildings and the houses are very nice and some of them are made of wood so it makes them very different.

I think that this is the most wonderful place I’ve ever been and I would go there again if I ever can.

Summary of Fragile

The Mercy Falls hospital is going to close its doors after a lot of years. Amy, one nurse that arrives to cover the night turn is helping the doctors to look after the children that haven't left yet. Early she detects that something is happening in that hospital and she and the children start to become scared. Amy tries to tell it to the rest of the personal but they don't believe her. Amy has a friend, Maggie who tells something to her about a mechanical girl, Charlotte who lives in the second floor. That floor is closed for a lot of years. The presence of the mechanical girl is becoming heavier every day and the children are very scared. One of the children needs to be evacuated because he has broken his leg twice. His name is Simon. Amy starts to investigate about it and she visits one of the nurses that worked there before, Susan. But when she arrives to Susan’s home she has died.